I understand that there are a variety of opinions on this topic, and for a variety of reasons, on this site . I really like the live versions of this song, mainly because it works so well with the piano/keyboard stuff in the middle. I listen to a lot of piano based jazz- Ketil Bjornstad , Marcin Wasilewski Trio, Keith Jarrett and such like, as well as classical stuff (I'm listening to Horowitz recording of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B flat major while typing this!). So I like the way No Quarter switches to some piano wanderings alongside all the other colours in the song.

Well not entirely...you hear more of what is on the cd and with a greater degree of clarity (which can be a blessing or a curse!). It does make 'poor' recordings (in terms of tape jamming squeals/wobbles, speed variations, and tape hiss etc) harder to listen to, but means 'poor' recordings (in terms of closeness to stage and clarity) slightly better. It makes some soundboards really shine, but for early '75 gigs really highlights Plant's flu laden voice. As for any graphic equaliser type stuff-I never put anything like that into the signal path, which -at least on higher end hi fi-needs to be as clean as possible. I tend to find that bootlegs sound better in my system, and some commercially produced cds considerably worse (as they tend to be mastered for the mass market and therefore 'average' systems). One of the reasons I stepped down from the Nu-Vista set up was that it really highlighted terrible mastering and mixing on commercial cds.

I too find it difficult to get to the point that DATguy is making. If it is that the bootleggers should take more care/be more honest/release better versions of concerts then it is all a bit of a pointless rage against the sky-bootleggers are in the business of making money out of illegal recordings and I doubt if they are even fans of the group whose product they put together and sell.

I got it about 10 years ago-it's a decent re-issue rather than an original though. Quite a few music shops carry them as stock items (I got mine in Chatham in Kent!), and there are often some for sale on e bay. Plays nicely and stays in tune, which is all I need really.

A pre with a five band equalizer? So not as a pure a signal path as more modern pre amps? But I can see how it might 'help' some Zep boots sound better. The Oppo is an American bit of kit (or at least more used in USA than UK) than I am not familiar with-so always good to discover some new gear to read about!

I bought my old Nu Vista set up before I got a car lol! I bet those QLS sound awesome, but need careful positioning? My Lumley Lampros /cat scratching posts sound great but after 8 years of cat misuse look shocking. I like a detailed quite open sound so my system suits me-especially the Musical Fidelity stuff which tends to be like that. The Nu Vista amp was great, but was too sensitive to dirt on the mains- it often read mains noise as a signal and fed it to the speakers )-: The Vincent amp has a much smaller soundstage, but drives really well. What cd source do you use?

My only criteria for quality is how well I can hear the band, and then the individual instruments. I used to listen through a fairly high end system- Musical Fidelity Nu Vista CD + Nu Vista Amp + Lumley Lampros 100s speakers+ matched bi-wire and interconnect cable (at £250/metre *wince*) Have downsized cd player to Musical Fidelity A5.5 and the amp is now a Vincent SV 233. Same speakers and cabling. Headphone listening is done via Musical Fidelity 200's and headphone amp. So when I see a bootleg sound rating I am deeply sceptical as to how it will sound through my system. Usually you get much more clarity and definition, which can work against some boots-especially those that are very 'toppy'- but helps dig out detail and crowd ambiance.

Nope this post isn't about rating 'Pigeon Blood' (Tampa 5th May 1973), this is about how people judge the sound quality of any bootleg. i.e. how the judgments of sound quality are pointless unless you know what equipment they are listening through.